Brooke Weston

News Item

Carnegie shadowing scheme

Friday 5th June 2009 by C. Freeman

A group of students are 'shadowing' the Carnegie book awards, discussing their favourite shortlisted works and writing reviews online. They meet weekly to talk about the titles nominated for this year's annual Carnegie/Greenaway competition.

This year's shortlisted books are about 'the complicated business of growing up, particularly as experienced by teenage boys' according to the official website. Their authors include Eoin Colfer for the Airman and Patrick Ness, who wrote The Knife of Never Letting Go. The titles range from the comic to darkly contemporary and they are mostly aimed at a teenage audience.

The Brooke Weston students will meet up with counterparts from three other schools at a shadowing event later this month at Lodge Park.They will take part in a quiz and then debate which book deserves to win the Carnegie Medal for literary merit. Its sister award, the Greenaway Medal is given to the book with the best illustrations.

Librarian Miss Adams said: 'The students who are taking part in the shadowing scheme are experienced readers with a breadth of knowledge that will enable them to judge each book on its merits. We have some lively discussions and look forward to meeting up with other students to make the case for our own favourites. This process gives students the chance to really consider what makes a good book, and it runs parallel to the competition which is voted on by library professionals.'

The winners of the Carnegie and Greenaway Medals will be announced on Thursday 25 June. If any other students want to read the shortlisted books there are copies available in the library.

As well as the Carnegie shadowing group Brooke Weston also has its own dedicated Manga group who meet on Wednesdays to read the latest titles. It is proving very popular and there are plans to stage a special Manga event after school later in the year.